The present invention relates to a fixing tool used to package an electronic component, cable, or the like on the chassis of an electronic device and, more particularly, to a fixing tool that can be easily removed from the upper surface side of the chassis.
When an electronic device is to be assembled, electronic components must be mounted on an assembly board such as a panel, chassis, board, or the like (which will be referred to as a chassis hereinafter), and a wiring component such as a cable must be extended on the chassis. For this purpose, a fixing tool as a packaging component is used. For example, when a flat cable is to be extended along the upper surface of a chassis, a fixing tool called a flat cable clamp to hold the flat cable on the chassis is used. FIG. 15 shows an example of a conventional flat cable clamp (to be referred to as FCC hereinafter). In this FCC 1A, an L-shaped clamp piece 41 projects on one end side of a base 40 having a width slightly larger than that of a flat cable FC to be held. An arrowhead-shaped hook 42 formed at the distal end of the clamp piece 41 enters between a support piece 43, formed on the other end side on the base 40, and a lock piece 44 and is engaged by the support piece 43 and lock piece 44. Thus, the flat cable FC is held between the base 40 and clamp piece 41.
A fitting piece 46 which forms an arrowhead extending toward its proximal end is connected to the distal end of a post 45 projecting downward from the bottom surface of the base 40. An elastic press piece 47 which is open like wings to oppose the fitting piece 46 is formed at the proximal end of the post 45. When the fitting piece 46 is inserted through a through hole formed in a chassis 2 from the upper surface side, the two ends of the fitting piece 46 are reduced in diameter by the elasticity to extend through the through hole. After passing through the through hole, the two ends of the fitting piece 46 are enlarged in diameter so that they fit with the inner edge of the through hole. At this time, the elastic press piece 47 is in elastic contact with the upper surface of the chassis 2. This elastic contact force holds the fitting state of the fitting piece 46 and through hole. Thus, the FCC 1A is fixed to the chassis 2. As an example of a fixing tool having a fitting portion with such a structure, for example, one described as an electrical wire bundle clamp in patent reference 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-242936) is available.
In recent years, in home electric appliances, OA devices, automobiles, and electronic devices as a whole, environmentally friendly products must be sold to solve environmental issues. Along with this demand, for example, a printed board and wiring lines built in an electronic device must be able to be disassembled from the chassis, panel, or the like of the electronic device. In particular, when disassembling wiring lines, the wiring lines and an FCC that holds the wiring lines must be removed from the upper surface side of the chassis. In the conventional FCC 1A shown in FIG. 15, when removing the FCC 1A from the chassis 2, the fitting piece 46 must be reduced in diameter and be extracted from the through hole. As the fitting piece 46 is arranged as it is concealed on the lower surface side of the chassis 2, the fitting piece 46 cannot be operated from the upper surface side of the chassis 2, and cannot but be operated from the lower surface side of the chassis 2. Therefore, the fitting piece 46 cannot be removed from the upper surface side of the chassis 2, and the demand for easy removal as described above cannot be satisfied. In addition, as the fitting piece 46 is small and difficult to hold with fingers, it is very difficult to operate. As an FCC of this type, one is available in which the lower surface of the base is fixed to a chassis with an adhesive tape. It is, however, cumbersome to remove the adhesive tape. If the adhesive tape is left attached to the chassis or FCC, an issue arises in environmental protection.
In view of this problem, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-27604, the present applicant has proposed a fixing tool which can be removed easily from the upper surface side of the chassis. This fixing tool has a clamp piece which is to be fitted with the inner edge of a hole formed in the chassis and clamps the inner edge, and a locking body which engages with the inner edge of the hole and locks movement of the fixing tool in the opposite direction. The fixing tool can be attached to and removed from the chassis by only operating it from the upper surface side of the chassis.
The proposed fixing tool has a substantially L-shaped cantilevered structure to fit the clamp piece with the inner edge of the hole from one direction. Accordingly, the clamp force of the chassis obtained by the clamp piece is not necessary sufficient. In particular, with a fixing tool in which the clamp piece is made compact to downsize the fixing tool, when an external force is applied in a direction to incline the fixing tool with respect to the chassis, the force concentrates at the intended portion. It is accordingly difficult to ensure stable clamp with the clamp piece, leaving room to improve in terms of reliability.